1. Field of the Invention
A mono- or dichloro- or bromo-methylnitrobenzene is halogenated by a hypohalite in a two phase aqueous/organic solvent medium in the presence of a phase transfer catalyst or where the organic phase is a C.sub.4 -C.sub.8 alkanol to produce a trichlormethylnitrobenzene.
2. Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 3,993,704 shows a two phase aqueous/organic solvent process for conversion of p-nitrobenzal bromide to p-nitrobenzotribromide by use of a metal hypobromite where the organic phase is a chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbon such as CCl.sub.4, an aromatic hydrocarbon such as toluene or a halogenated aromatic hydrocarbon such as chlorobenzene. The time needed for the reaction or the yields of product are not entirely satisfactory and the process is not operable with a nitrobenzyl bromide or a nitrobenzylchloride.